Tectonicus is a 'deep' minecraft map renderer written in java. It has fewer dependencies than similar programs such as Overviewer. Instead of plotting blocks as pixels it generates a 3D model of your map and uses that to draw zoomable maps with a high level of detail. Instead of producing a single image it creates lots of map tiles as well as a HTML file to let you view it using the Google maps interface.

As of version 2, Tectonicus reads configuration parameters from an XML file—command line options are discouraged. The XML file allows for multiple maps to be generated in a single run of Tectonicus, and when viewing you can switch between the maps with buttons on the map.

Download the zipped jar file HERE and save it to your computer. If your computer tries to open it as a zip file then right click and use 'save target as…'

Note: Replace %ProgramFiles% with %ProgramFiles(x86)% if you are using 32-bit java on a 64-bit operating system.

Because Tectonicus pre-generates images for every block on the map, the maps it produces can be significantly larger (gigabytes) than the source Minecraft world. This can be reduced by setting imageFormat="jpg" and a suitable imageCompressionLevel in the Views node, and also utilising closestZoomSize in the Map node.

While the first Tectonicus run can be time consuming (hours), subsequent runs with the same options will be significantly quicker due to Tectonicus only rendering changed tiles.

Tectonicus can generate first person views and insert them into your map so you can showcase your buildings or discoveries.

A generated view

These are done by placing signs with text on them to label them as views, like so:

#view
Your view description

The text '#view' can be placed anywhere on the sign. Lines without a preceding '#' will be used as the description for the view.

Views are generated from the direction the sign is facing. You can also adjust the height, angle, and FOV like this:

#view h10 a135 f90
Your view description

Here there are three values: 'h10' shifts the view up by 10 Minecraft blocks. This can be useful to get a birds eye view of a structure. It also lets you bury signs underground out of sight. Negative numbers also work here.

The 'a135' sets the elevation angle (how much the view looks up or down) to 135 degrees. This can be any number from 0 (looking straight up) to 180 (looking straight down).

The 'f90' sets the FOV to 90 (the default is 70, the same as Minecraft).

The example picture is made from '#view h10 a135 f90', which puts the camera 10 blocks up from the ground and looking down slightly with an FOV of 90.

You can also change the view to be drawn at night time:

#view night
Description here

View parameters can be placed on any line, but the line must start with the '#' character.

Tools

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